Re: [gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions
On 12/25/20 10:28 PM, Walter Dnes wrote: > Also, given bloat over time, is 128 megabytes still sufficient for the > boot partition today? I plan to keep 2 kernels around at all times, > "Production" and "Experimental". > It depends on how you configure your kernel (and which modules are built-in vs. built as loadable modules), whether you will have an initramfs, and if so, what you include in the initramfs. On my system (customized kernel configuration, no initramfs), I currently have 6 kernels in /boot taking up ~80 megs of space. Every once in a while, I clean out the older ones to free up space. Cal
[gentoo-user] UEFI install noob questions
This is my first UEFI install, so please pardon the questions. 1) Partitioning questions: The standard layout example in https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Full/Installation#What_is_the_BIOS_boot_partition.3F says... > The BIOS boot partition is needed when a GPT partition layout is used > with GRUB2 in BIOS/Legacy mode. It is not required when booting in > EFI/UEFI mode. The standard layout example is... Number Start End Size File system Name Flags 1 1.00MiB3.00MiB 2.00MiB grub bios_grub 2 3.00MiB131MiB 128MiBboot boot 3 131MiB 643MiB 512MiBswap 4 643MiB 20479MiB 19836MiB rootfs Given that my machine is incapable of booting in BIOS/Legacy mode, I assume that the 2-megabyte partition is unnecessary, grub or no grub. Also, given bloat over time, is 128 megabytes still sufficient for the boot partition today? I plan to keep 2 kernels around at all times, "Production" and "Experimental". -- Walter Dnes I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
Neil Bothwick wrote: > On Fri, 25 Dec 2020 16:38:13 -0600, Dale wrote: > >>> You can also use systemd-boot, a separate package for OpenRC users, >>> which I have used without an initramfs. systemd-boot is very >>> lightweight and only requires a two line config for each kernel, plus >>> a two line general config (timeout and default). That's six lines of >>> config for a choice of two kernels. >>> >>> Of course, if you want absolutely minimal, you don't need any boot >>> manager with UEFI and you can select your kernel from the firmware's >>> boot menu, but that loses you the ability to edit options on the fly. >> Is that similar to the old now gone Grub? I admit, I sort of liked the >> old grub. Adding/removing a kernel was pretty darn easy. > It's much simpler. GRUB is a bootloader, UEFI is a bootloader in > firmware, so the software is only used to tell it what to do, not control > the boot process itself. > > Oh. I'm still on BIOS so that leaves me out, for now at least. ;-) That said, my mobo is getting some age on it. After the internet switch, NAS and such, I plan to build a new rig. May recycle some stuff but newish anyway. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, 25 Dec 2020 16:38:13 -0600, Dale wrote: > > You can also use systemd-boot, a separate package for OpenRC users, > > which I have used without an initramfs. systemd-boot is very > > lightweight and only requires a two line config for each kernel, plus > > a two line general config (timeout and default). That's six lines of > > config for a choice of two kernels. > > > > Of course, if you want absolutely minimal, you don't need any boot > > manager with UEFI and you can select your kernel from the firmware's > > boot menu, but that loses you the ability to edit options on the fly. > Is that similar to the old now gone Grub? I admit, I sort of liked the > old grub. Adding/removing a kernel was pretty darn easy. It's much simpler. GRUB is a bootloader, UEFI is a bootloader in firmware, so the software is only used to tell it what to do, not control the boot process itself. -- Neil Bothwick She's fine, upstanding, and wonderful laying down. pgpyDRUMehktl.pgp Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
Neil Bothwick wrote: > On Fri, 25 Dec 2020 15:55:23 -0500, Walter Dnes wrote: > >> One other thing, looking at the docs, it seems that refind requires >> initrd. Am I reading it correctly? If so, I may as well go with grub. >> Grub usually requires setting up stuff once. Initrd requires running >> more often. > While I've only used rEFInd with an initramfs, because I have an > encrypted /, there doesn't appear to be any reason to need one. All it > does is load a kernel and pass it some options. > > You can also use systemd-boot, a separate package for OpenRC users, which > I have used without an initramfs. systemd-boot is very lightweight and > only requires a two line config for each kernel, plus a two line general > config (timeout and default). That's six lines of config for a choice of > two kernels. > > Of course, if you want absolutely minimal, you don't need any boot manager > with UEFI and you can select your kernel from the firmware's boot menu, > but that loses you the ability to edit options on the fly. > > Is that similar to the old now gone Grub? I admit, I sort of liked the old grub. Adding/removing a kernel was pretty darn easy. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] Shorewall config again
On Friday, 25 December 2020 16:32:13 GMT J. Roeleveld wrote: > On 25 December 2020 10:44:52 CET, Peter Humphrey wrote: > >On Thursday, 24 December 2020 16:11:41 GMT J. Roeleveld wrote: > >> On 24 December 2020 15:17:02 CET, Peter Humphrey > > > > > > > >wrote: > >> >On Thursday, 24 December 2020 09:52:03 GMT Peter Humphrey wrote: > >> >> Greetings, > >> >> > >> >> I asked about this a long time ago, but I can't find the answer. > >> > > >> >Never mind. I copied settings from another system and shorewall now > >> >runs. > >> > > >> >I still don't have the answer, but I'm happy for now. > >> > >> Run the same grep again, or search for the term in menuconfig. > > > >Same result. I think the shorewall error message needs improvement. > > And when you search for that term in menuconfig? As I said: same result. -- Regards, Peter.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Friday, 25 December 2020 19:17:24 GMT Walter Dnes wrote: > On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 06:45:42PM +, Jorge Almeida wrote > > > Learning about UEFI: https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ > > Suggestion: forget about grub; refind is the way to go (link above) > > Also: you don't need parted; gdisk is fine if you're OK with fdisk > > Thanks for the pointers. Are there any changes I have to make in my > linux kernel to boot UEFI? Note; legacy BIOS boot is *NOT* an option > on my new Dell XPS8940. It's UEFI boot only. The installation handbook is useful on setting UEFI up. It worked for me, anyway. https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Bootloader -- Regards, Peter.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, 25 Dec 2020 15:55:23 -0500, Walter Dnes wrote: > One other thing, looking at the docs, it seems that refind requires > initrd. Am I reading it correctly? If so, I may as well go with grub. > Grub usually requires setting up stuff once. Initrd requires running > more often. While I've only used rEFInd with an initramfs, because I have an encrypted /, there doesn't appear to be any reason to need one. All it does is load a kernel and pass it some options. You can also use systemd-boot, a separate package for OpenRC users, which I have used without an initramfs. systemd-boot is very lightweight and only requires a two line config for each kernel, plus a two line general config (timeout and default). That's six lines of config for a choice of two kernels. Of course, if you want absolutely minimal, you don't need any boot manager with UEFI and you can select your kernel from the firmware's boot menu, but that loses you the ability to edit options on the fly. -- Neil Bothwick "Press Return to Continue" - known as "The Mail Menupause". pgpnfwbyRgWP_.pgp Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 9:01 PM Jorge Almeida wrote: > > On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 8:55 PM Walter Dnes wrote: > > > > > > The initrd documentation can be a bit overwhelming. Still, much better I meant "The refind documentation", of course.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 8:55 PM Walter Dnes wrote: > > > One other thing, looking at the docs, it seems that refind requires > initrd. Am I reading it correctly? If so, I may as well go with grub. > Grub usually requires setting up stuff once. Initrd requires running > more often. > No. I use refind and I don't have an initrd. The initrd documentation can be a bit overwhelming. Still, much better than the Grub documentation, IMO. Jorge
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 07:32:42PM +, Jorge Almeida wrote > On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 7:17 PM Walter Dnes wrote: > > > > > Thanks for the pointers. Are there any changes I have to make in my > > linux kernel to boot UEFI? Note; legacy BIOS boot is *NOT* an option > > on my new Dell XPS8940. It's UEFI boot only. > > > I'm not sure that it is really necessary for refind, but it doesn't hurt: > > Processor type and features -> EFI runtime service support > " -> EFI stub support One other thing, looking at the docs, it seems that refind requires initrd. Am I reading it correctly? If so, I may as well go with grub. Grub usually requires setting up stuff once. Initrd requires running more often. -- Walter Dnes I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 7:17 PM Walter Dnes wrote: > > Thanks for the pointers. Are there any changes I have to make in my > linux kernel to boot UEFI? Note; legacy BIOS boot is *NOT* an option > on my new Dell XPS8940. It's UEFI boot only. > I'm not sure that it is really necessary for refind, but it doesn't hurt: Processor type and features -> EFI runtime service support " -> EFI stub support Jorge
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 06:45:42PM +, Jorge Almeida wrote > Learning about UEFI: https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ > Suggestion: forget about grub; refind is the way to go (link above) > Also: you don't need parted; gdisk is fine if you're OK with fdisk Thanks for the pointers. Are there any changes I have to make in my linux kernel to boot UEFI? Note; legacy BIOS boot is *NOT* an option on my new Dell XPS8940. It's UEFI boot only. -- Walter Dnes I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications
Re: [gentoo-user] \ \ \ 2021 / / /
‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐
On Thursday, December 24, 2020 8:11 PM, wrote:
> {@} * {@} * {@} Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year!
> {@} * {@} * {@} * {@} Wish you all extra ordinary good luck!
> {@} * {@} * {@}
> \ \ \ 2021 / / /
>
> And thank you all for the help you trying to provide.
> That is what distinguish Gentoo community from other forums.
hi. i just want to help a bit by sharing a
thought that i think is useful to the civilisation
of life forms in general:
- new year celebrations are wasteful in
several ways (e.g. waste on needless
purchases [aka gifts], useless fireworks,
useless trees with socks on them, etc).
- the vacation is nice to allow potential good
use of it. but even this is usually abused
by most people as they end up just wasting
it alongside their money for purely doing
silly things such as purposeless tourism.
- i hope that, one day, humanity won't do such
useless things, and --instead-- we re-direct
the otherwise-wasted resources into actually
useful things such as (not limited to):
* contributions to scientific
research.
* foss projects.
* ...
* purchase of scientific books/tools for
smart kids that love science, but live in
situations where their parents are unable
to afford as such to them.
i personally think this last point to be
the best investment in the long-run. most
likely today we lack potentially great
scientists because they simply got wasted
due to lack of funding during their
childhood. likewise today's science
potentially lags centuries behind what it
would've been if we had taken this point
more seriously centuries ago.
it's never too early to start acting better.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 4:41 PM Walter Dnes wrote: > > After 20 years on linux, I've been reduced to a newbie. BIOS boot, > Lilo, and fdisk served me well for 2 decades. Now I'm going to have to > learn UEFI, grub, and parted all at once. I'll start a new thread > tomorrow once I have my config files copied off. Then I'll install UEFI > mode properly. Learning about UEFI: https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ Suggestion: forget about grub; refind is the way to go (link above) Also: you don't need parted; gdisk is fine if you're OK with fdisk Cheers Jorge Almeida
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Fri, 25 Dec 2020 11:41:03 -0500, Walter Dnes wrote: > After 20 years on linux, I've been reduced to a newbie. BIOS boot, > Lilo, and fdisk served me well for 2 decades. Now I'm going to have to > learn UEFI, grub, and parted all at once. I'll start a new thread > tomorrow once I have my config files copied off. Then I'll install UEFI > mode properly. UEFI is dead simple, and you can use gdisk, which is the GPT variant of fdisk. So that only leave the boot manager to learn, and if you don't already know GRUB, I'd say start with something simpler. -- Neil Bothwick The number one cause of computer problems is computer solutions. pgpcbSUbJHI4U.pgp Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Is a USB-key-to-hard-drive-tap-dance-boot possible?
On Thu, Dec 24, 2020 at 03:49:35PM -0700, Dan Egli wrote > I see your problem, I think. You don't have your ESP mounted, so > grub can't write the EFI files to it. You are likely trying to use > grub with grub-install /dev/sda. That won't work for EFI. > > mkdir /boot/efi > mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /boot/efi > grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi > grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg > > you MAY need to add --removable to the grub-install line. Some EFI > setups prefer that. I have this sinking feeling in my stomach that I need to blow away the install (after scp'ing config files to my desktop) and start over. There is no room for another partition. Apparently, using fdisk (like I did) to partition a GPT system is begging for problems down the road. After 20 years on linux, I've been reduced to a newbie. BIOS boot, Lilo, and fdisk served me well for 2 decades. Now I'm going to have to learn UEFI, grub, and parted all at once. I'll start a new thread tomorrow once I have my config files copied off. Then I'll install UEFI mode properly. -- Walter Dnes I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications
Re: [gentoo-user] \ \ \ 2021 / / /
On Fri, 25 Dec 2020 15:07:59 +, caveman رجل الكهف wrote: > hi. i just want to help a bit by sharing a > thought that i think is useful to the civilisation > of life forms in general: > > - new year celebrations are wasteful in > several ways (e.g. waste on needless > purchases [aka gifts], useless fireworks, > useless trees with socks on them, etc). > > - the vacation is nice to allow potential good > use of it. but even this is usually abused > by most people as they end up just wasting > it alongside their money for purely doing > silly things such as purposeless tourism. Dear Ebenezer, Some of us would welcome the opportunity to waste time with their families over Christmas and the New Year, instead of having to spend it isolating at home following a positive COVID-19 test. Don't underestimate the therapeutic value of doing nothing with the people that are important to you. -- Neil Bothwick To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target. pgp5v6ZQEktDS.pgp Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Shorewall config again
On 25 December 2020 10:44:52 CET, Peter Humphrey wrote: >On Thursday, 24 December 2020 16:11:41 GMT J. Roeleveld wrote: >> On 24 December 2020 15:17:02 CET, Peter Humphrey > >wrote: >> >On Thursday, 24 December 2020 09:52:03 GMT Peter Humphrey wrote: >> >> Greetings, >> >> >> >> I asked about this a long time ago, but I can't find the answer. >> > >> >Never mind. I copied settings from another system and shorewall now >> >runs. >> > >> >I still don't have the answer, but I'm happy for now. >> >> Run the same grep again, or search for the term in menuconfig. > >Same result. I think the shorewall error message needs improvement. And when you search for that term in menuconfig? -- Joost -- Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
Re: [gentoo-user] U.V.C. Webcam Disconnects shortly after Registration
On Friday, 25 December 2020 03:56:58 GMT Ashley Dixon wrote: > How's it going dudes? > > I bought a Logitech C270 webcam from Argos about a year ago, which, > according to the LKDDb [1] and U.V.C. driver website [2], should work well > on Linux. Despite working flawlessly until recently, some strange > behaviour has appeared. Have you changed anything recently on this PC, coincidental with this problem arriving? Anything related to kernel/drivers, webcam related apps and audio? Besides dmesg, do you get any other errors in syslog? Have you disconnected all other USB devices on other ports hanging off the same MoBo USB hub controller? > When I connect the webcam, `dmesg` registers it as would be expected > (timestamps omitted): > > usb 3-7: new high-speed USB device number 14 using xhci_hcd > usb 3-7: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=0825, > bcdDevice= 0.12 usb 3-7: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, > SerialNumber=2 usb 3-7: SerialNumber: 9EEFE4E0 > uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device (046d:0825) > input: UVC Camera (046d:0825) as > /devices/pci:00/:00:14.0/usb3/3-7/3-7:1.0/input/input27 usb 3-7: > set resolution quirk: cval->res = 384 > > However, about two seconds later, me having done nothing, the kernel ring > buffer suggests it has been physically unplugs, and thus deregisters the > device... > > USB disconnect, device number 14 I don't have the same camera, but it could be something related to power. When the device is detected and initialised by udev + kernel driver, it starts drawing more current to deal with features like autofocus/exposure. Once it settles the current consumption reduces. > I have tested this on another very similar machine, and this problem is not > to be seen, and everything works perfectly; thus ruling out a hardware > issue with the camera. Furthermore, no other devices---even other U.V.C. > webcams---do not present with the same symptoms on my machine, in the same > U.S.B. port; thus ruling out any issue with the physical port or > motherboard controller. Not necessarily. Stating the obvious, other machines are not the *same* machine. Differences in mV/μA between MoBos could cause a marginal case to manifest itself. Other UVC webcams, are not the same webcam in terms of sensitivity and electrical consumption. > I have no idea how to triage this further. I feel like my head has been > nailed to a coffee table by Dinsdale Piranha. Any tips? My kernel is > 5.9.13-zen1, although this trouble presents identically on a vanilla > kernel. Do you have an external USB hub, with its own separate power supply, to see if connecting the camera to it overcomes with this problem? Check if the driver has any power saving features with 'modinfo' and if switchable, disable them and try again. Camera sensors and chips can degrade over time and change their performance with differences in temperature. I appreciate a year is not long enough, but I had camera sensors fail in a matter of months - thankfully still under warranty. > Cheers. > > Hope everyone is remaining well. > > [1] https://linux-hardware.org/index.php?id=usb:046d-0825 > [2] https://www.ideasonboard.org/uvc/#devices signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part.
Re: [gentoo-user] \ \ \ 2021 / / /
On Thursday, 24 December 2020 20:11:19 GMT the...@sys-concept.com wrote:
> {@} * {@} * {@} Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year!
> {@} * {@} * {@} * {@} Wish you all extra ordinary good luck!
> {@} * {@} * {@}
> \ \ \ 2021 / / /
>
> And thank you all for the help you trying to provide.
> That is what distinguish Gentoo community from other forums.
Best festive wishes to all Gentoo users and devs! :-)
signature.asc
Description: This is a digitally signed message part.
Re: [gentoo-user] Shorewall config again
On Thursday, 24 December 2020 16:11:41 GMT J. Roeleveld wrote: > On 24 December 2020 15:17:02 CET, Peter Humphrey wrote: > >On Thursday, 24 December 2020 09:52:03 GMT Peter Humphrey wrote: > >> Greetings, > >> > >> I asked about this a long time ago, but I can't find the answer. > > > >Never mind. I copied settings from another system and shorewall now > >runs. > > > >I still don't have the answer, but I'm happy for now. > > Run the same grep again, or search for the term in menuconfig. Same result. I think the shorewall error message needs improvement. -- Regards, Peter.
Re: [gentoo-user] Rearranging hard drives and data.
Frank Steinmetzger wrote: > Am Mon, Dec 21, 2020 at 03:19:08AM -0600 schrieb Dale: > >>> Something to look into before going the traditional raid/nfs route: >>> moosefs or lizardfs. I am using arm based odroid HC2's and over the >>> softraid based nfs I was using there are considerable power savings >>> (especially if you take into the account redundancy) as it takes a >>> number of these low power arm systems to match the power requirements of >>> an older desktop), better data protection (actual, not theoretical for >>> 2x raid 4 disk 10's replaced by a single 5x hc2's using the same disks >>> with mfs :) and the ease of mounting it into the filesystem. Downside >>> is needing a fast network for best performance but an NFS will need that >>> anyway for similar reasons. >>> >>> BillK >> >> I was reading somewhere about FreeNAS OS that is commonly used on a NAS >> and it uses ZFS. It sounded a lot like a LVM or BTRFS, (sp?), type file >> system. > ZFS combines LVM/RAID and the filesystem into one software. So you don't > need to set up two separate layers (RAID and filesystem). Hmmm. I'm not planing to use RAID so that could change things. I may use some other OS/software. I'm not real quick to use Gentoo since it likely won't be updated very often. I may research and see what else is easy to install, will do what I want software wise and be OK with not being updated very often. I read once where a guy built a file server/NAS and stuck it in a closet. He used it all the time but just never thought to go to the closet and do anything to it. I think he was moving and was cleaning out the closet and realized how long it had been sitting there untouched. He said it was dusty and had a uptime of over 5 years without a single update either. I may not be that bad but going a year or so is certainly likely. Gentoo will not be happy with that. Just have to wait and see I guess. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] Rearranging hard drives and data.
Frank Steinmetzger wrote: > Am Thu, Dec 24, 2020 at 10:38:33AM -0600 schrieb Dale: > >> My router also has two USB plugs for sharing external hard drives or USB >> sticks. I'm not talking about that because I don't like hooking a drive >> up over USB. It never works well for some reason. According to the >> link below, I hook the NAS up to the router via ethernet and it is >> available for all devices connected to the router. I'd guess that I can >> also make it accessible to the internet to but I doubt I'll do that. If >> it is set that way by default, I'll google and find out how to disable >> that. Linky: > For a typical router that hides your home net from the outside via NAT, > you’d have to set up port forwarding in order to reach anything on the > inside. I run nginx on my raspi for Nextcloud and PIM syncserver, and I > make them available that way. > So it defaults to not being accessible from the internet. Good to know. I figured it would be the default. Now to get around to doing all this. Still paying on my new mattress and friends. It sleeps good now but be better when it is paid for. :/ Thanks. Dale :-) :-) P. S. Like the little sayings in the sig. They funny and sometimes require some thinking. :-D
